Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin expressed strong disapproval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent demonetisation policy and threatened retaliatory action. In a strongly worded letter to the Ministry of External Affairs, Kadakin said:
Please just imagine if we in Moscow mirror this order of SBI (State Bank of India) when 50,000 roubles will not be enough to pay for a decent dinner in a restaurant, not to mention functioning of such a big embassy as ours in New Delhi or India’s in Moscow.
Retaliatory options may include restriction on the cash withdrawals for Indian diplomats posted in Russia, the official indicated.
The ambassador is yet to receive a reply from the MEA. He reportedly may summon the Indian envoy this week, to register his protest.
Russian diplomats are not alone in feeling the pinch. Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia have also reportedly protested the ban.
Speaking to The Economic Times, employees of the Russian embassy said its New Delhi mission has a staff of 200 people. Withe the SBI withdrawal limit for the Embassy at Rs 50,000 a week, cash at hand for one person amounts to a mere Rs 250 a week.
A senior diplomat said several missions have forwarded their case to the MEA, while other diplomats said the restrictions violated the spirit of the Vienna convention.
After the policy of demonetisation was announced, MEA and the Finance Ministry had reportedly set up a task force. Special bank branches have also been dedicated for transactions by diplomats so they don’t have to wait in long queues.
Incidentally, Russia too had demonetised its currency not unlike the fashion PM Modi employed. On 22 January 1991, the Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev declared 50-rouble and 100-rouble notes invalid as of midnight on the same day.
Recently demonetisation sparked off another diplomatic incident when Pakistan High Commission diplomats refused to accept their payable-in-dollars salaries from Indian banks that hold their salary account.
India, even before demonetisation, had a restriction on withdrawals beyond $5,000, unless the person can produce paperwork declaring the purpose of withdrawal. But with a hike in demand for dollars, the government has asked RBL, an Indian private bank which holds accounts of the High Commission staff, to ask for paperwork for any amount of dollars.
Islamabad registered its protest by saying if India did not allow its staff to withdraw dollars as they always have, it would be considered a breach of the Vienna Protocol.
Source: The Economic Times
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